ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions' Glover Quin is rated fifth among safeties in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. He's tied for second in the NFL with interceptions among defensive backs, with five.
His safety-mate, James Ihedigbo, is tied for fifth in the NFL in interceptions among defensive backs, with four. Yet neither one is in the Top 10 in Pro Bowl balloting by fans at either position.
So Quin, when asked about the Pro Bowl balloting on Wednesday and changes he would make, he asked if there were television cameras, if they could be turned on. He wanted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to hear his message. And here it is:
"How would I change the voting? First of all, in my opinion, why do the fans need two months to vote in my opinion? So I would say, I also feel like, something should be said about playing in the majority of the games. How can you have a Pro Bowl season if you only played in 10 games, right? So I wouldn't start the fan voting until after Week 13. Vote 13, 14, 15, season's over with but you've had 12 games. Everybody had their bye and played in 12 games by Week 13 so the fans had 12 games to see who is playing well, who has been on the field. You've got two weeks to fan vote and then you let the media and everybody else vote. Why do they need two months to sit there and vote 500,000 times. And they are probably just voting for Tashaun Gipson, which he had a great first half of the season but he's been hurt for the last four or five games. I think you move that back, you give fans time to say OK this guy has performed a certain way for 12 games and he's been out on the field, he's been trending the right way and you give them two weeks to get their votes in. If you can't your votes in in two weeks, what's the difference between having a million fan votes and 400,000 fan votes, you're still going to be a leader.
"Scouts in the NFL should create the ballot. I don't feel like everybody, like a Grammy nomination, it's an honor to be nominated for a Grammy. Whether you win or not, it's an honor to be nominated. It's a major thing. So if we're talking about the ballot, why is everybody on the ballot and they haven't had close to a Pro Bowl year. It should be an honor to be on the Pro Bowl ballot. So now the fans don't have to choose between 35 free safeties. It's only seven. These are the only guys who are having Pro Bowl years. Why you got everybody on the ballot that ain't even Pro Bowl-worthy?
"...It should be an honor. They want players to play hard in the Pro Bowl? It should be an honor to be on the ballot. Period. It should be an honor, like, 'Man, I'm on the Pro Bowl ballot.' You know what I mean. How do you have a guy on the Pro Bowl ballot who has 10 tackles and a pass breakup."
In the midst of his loud, forceful rant about the Pro Bowl, he drew a small crowd of players as well. Ihedigbo joked he sounded like he was preaching to a church.
And when Ihedigbo was asked if he agreed with what Quin was saying, he smiled and said, "100 percent."
The Lions only have five players in the top 10 of fan voting at the respective positions: Golden Tate is 10th among receivers with 188,526 votes; Ezekiel Ansah is seventh among defensive ends with 97,074 votes; Ndamukong Suh is third among defensive tackles with 189,102 votes; DeAndre Levy is ninth among outside linebackers with 108,417 votes and Isa Abdul-Quddus is 10th among special teamers with 36,510 votes.